Table cutlery.



GI El TABLE UUTLERYQ APPLIOATION FILED 1130.7; 1911.

Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

l/WT/VESSES I far? To all whom it may concern WEN OFFICE.

GEORGE E. SMITH, or MERIDEN, connncrrou'r.

rais n: eu'rrinmr.

. a Specification of Letters Patent.

Be it knownthat I, GEORGE E. SMITH, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Meriden, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented'a new and useful Improvement in Table Cutlery, of which the following-is a specification.-

This invention relates to an improvement in the manufacture of table knives, forks and spoons, and, it has particular reference to the method of connecting the handles with the blades.

Table knives are made with solid metal making the higher grades of cutlery on account of the amount of metal used, with the consequent weight of the handles, and thelack of possibilities for ornamentation. .The better qualities are made with handles stamped or drawn to shape from sheet metal, for this allows the production of handles with 'a minimum amount of metal and permits them to be impressed with any desired ornamentation. Such sheet metal handles, of course, haveone end closed and the other opened. The tang of the blade is thrust .into the open end and fastened. It is a common practice to leave a little space between the outer surface of the tang and the inner surface of the open end of the handle and to apply a small quantity of solder to the joint and by heat draw it up in order to fasten the .parts together. This is a somewhat expensive operation, andone of the difiiculties resulting from this practice is the fact that small pellets of solder are likely to form in the interior of the handle and become detached and roll around and rattle. This is regarded as an imperfection and necessitates separating the handle from the blade and removing the rattler. In large factories this happens so often that it adds considerable to the expense of manufacture of these articles. For the eheapening the cost, it has been found desirable and practical to, with the proper materials, cement the tangs into the handles. In order to accomplish this it has been customary to fill the entire handle with a cementing material, such as rosin, beeswax, and brick dust or plaster Paris, and then to cement the tang of the blade into a socket formed in this compound. This method however, has the objectionable feature of producing a solid, heavy handle.

The object of the presentinvention is to provide a method whereby, in a very simple and cheap manner, the tang of a blade may tion, the blade and tang being shown in side view, and the hollow handle in section.

The blade 1 may be made of steel, silver or other common metal, with the usual neck 2, shoulder 3 and tang 4. The handle 5 is made of sheet metal in any common man ner and rovided with any desired ornamentation. first step is to take a small piece or wad of tissue paper, asbestos or other material, and force it into the open end of the handle so that it will form a plug or bridge 6 just below the end of the blade tang. This pro vides a small pocket at the open end of the handle. Cement, solder, or a similar fastening material 7 is placed in this pocket, and then the blade tang is inserted with the shoulder 3 abutting against the open end of the handle. If the usual cement is employed, this cement permeates the paper or asbestos forming the bridge and cements that in place when hard, as well as cementing the tang in the handle. If solder is used, no part of it can get into the hollow portion of the handle and cause a rattle.

If the tang is to be cemented in the handle, it is preferred to use a small wad or packing of soft paper for forming the bridge or plug. If solder is to be used,.it is desirable to form this'bridge or plug of a wad of fibrous asbestos.

By means' of this exceedingly simple method, the tang of a blade can be cheaply and quickly cemented in the end of the hollow handle by the use of a very small amount of cementing material, and without filling the entire handle and making it solid and heavy. A blade may be securely fastened in this manner, so as to leave the major portion of the handle hollow, and consequently very light, which is desirable, and without danger of small particles or pellets remaining in the handle after the parts are secured together, and resulting in such rattling as would necessitate separating the parts and refastenin them. Not only is this method of fastening very cheap, for it n carrying out the invention, the

H Patented lVIa1'.4,1913'. Application filed'Decemher 7, 1911. Seria.1No.'664,421.'

dispenses with filling material for the hanthe open end, a blade with a. solid tang that it dle and employs only a small quantity of projects into the open end of the handle inexpensive cement, but itcan be accomoutside ofthe plug, and adhesive securing plished very quick by ordinary labor and it the tang in the open end of the handle out- 5 produces a superior article. side of the plug. v

The invention claimed is: 7 GEORGE E. SMITH. A table implement having a hollow sheet \Vitnesses:

metal handle with a soft plu filling the JOSEPHINE M. STREMPFEB,

opening in the handle a short distance from H. H. WILLIAMS. 

